It's the day before only my third performance since arriving in Long Beach and what should I discover? I find that a cold is trying to sneak up on me. DRAT!!! Not a happy camper. At least I discovered it really early on. I don't actually have symptoms yet. The giveaway was how tired I was last night and upon rising this morning. I mean I was so drained! By this afternoon, I knew the horrible truth.
Well, what steps am I taking to be fully functional for the gig and beat the cold into submission? I'm glad you asked.
*Drink water.....drink water...drink water....drink water...drink water. Do you see where I'm going here? The body is trying to detox when we get colds so help out by flushing out your system with lots of H2O. Dryness in the throat comes with along this bug, and dry vocal folds are not what we want for good singing. We have to get plenty of water into bodies so that the cords- which are low on the body's priority list- get some needed lubrication.
*Herbal teas can be soothing to the throat area. Black tea has tanic acid in it which can actually dry out the throat, so bypass it. Throat Coat Tea is highly recommended. Remember- nothing you drink will touch the vocal folds themselves so they aren't magic elixirs!
*SLEEP!! The body needs to be rested in order to fight off the invaders. I took a couple of naps today to replenish my energy.
*Since the cords are not infected (laryngitis), I'm fine to sing. But a really thorough warm-up is a must!! Don't push the voice too soon. I vocalized for almost a half hour before I started to sing through my set list.
*Inhaling steam is a great way to get moisture to the vocal folds immediately. I have my facial sauna running. I steam between 10 and 15 minutes at a time.
*Since I was feeling so tired, I knew when to stop singing. Not because my cords were irritated, but because I felt my lack of energy could lead to underenergized and faulty singing. So I listened to recordings of my last minute cover song addition and spent time playing through my piano parts.
Well, I need to be turning in soon. I need my 8 hours of sleep. I just finished some great tea and I'm going to steam again for a bit. Here's to a great performance!!!
Earl
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